Hello, Little Girl
by GeorgieGirl416
Summary: Francesca Reynolds is an art student at Quarrybanks Art College. She's happy there and she has a normal life with her two best friends Emily and Stuart. She has good marks and does very well in the school, but when she gets paired up with a certain Teddy Boy, she doesn't know if she can keep her grades up. John Lennon doesn't care about his grades or anyone else's.
1. Chapter 1

***Beep! Beep! Beep!***

Franny groaned and turned off her alarm. Oh how she hated Mondays. As she pulled herself out of bed and she put on some clothes she grumbled and complained that she'd allowed herself to go out and drink last night. Of course it was great fun at the time, and she hadn't planned on drinking so much, but now she had a splitting headache and all Franny wanted to do was crawl back under her covers and go back to sleep.

Franny didn't do that though. She merely grabbed her book bag and a roll off the stove and walked out the door. She needed coffee, but she didn't really have time to drink it. She stopped at a cafe anyway. She got a normal coffee and drank it as she walked to her Art college, Quarrybanks.

Quarry banks Art College in Liverpool wasn't the most grand school. Liverpool wasn't the most grand place in England either. Quarrybanks is just where Franny went to school. She was an art student in her second year at Quarrybanks and she rather liked the place. She was good at drawing, but best at painting. Her favorite thing to do was paint and it showed in her work. Her paintings were always the better between her drawings and sketches.

Franny was a girl of nineteen with light brown hair that went down her back annoyingly. She had normal blue eyes and she was somewhat tall. Much taller than most of the girls she knew.

Franny's full name was Francesca Reynolds, but she hated that name, so she called herself Franny. She had two friends in the whole school. Her best friend was a girl called Emily Sparrow who was in her year and had most of the same classes as Franny. Her second friend, who she wasn't as close to, was called Stuart Sutcliffe. He shared a painting class with Franny and they'd been paired up on a few assignments together a few times. Stuart spoke with her most days as they walked down the halls and he talked to her at her locker, but they didn't see each other after school or any other time. Emily was the one that Franny spent most of her time with.

"Oh, stop it Franny!" Emily laughed swatting at Franny's shoulder as they walked to Franny's locker, "You know you had fun!"

"Yeah I had fun, but I woke up with the worst headache!" Franny laughed shaking her head, "just promise me no more late nights and drinking on Sunday night's. I hate Mondays enough already."

"Fine," Emily said holding her hands up in surrender. "Anyway did you ever send in that piece for the contest?" Franny nodded and sighed as she gathered her things for her first class.

"Yes I did, but I doubt I'll win anything." She said shrugging, "It wasn't one of my best works."

"I'm sure it was great!" Emily said rolling her eyes. That was when Stuart walked up.

"Me too!" He said with a firm nod, "Even though I'm not sure what we're talking about." Franny laughed and closed her locker.

"Francesca is doubting her abilities. Again." Emily said rolling her eyes. Evidently this happened quite often.

"Oh?" Stuart asked as they all started walking down the hall. "How come?"  
>Franny started to answer him, but Emily didn't give her much of a chance. "She entered that contest the school had last month and she doesn't think she'll win anything."<p>

"I entered that contest." Stuart said grabbing Franny's hand and playfully swinging their arms back and forth.

"Oh I'm sure to lose now!" Franny said giggling, "Stu, you are so much better than me!"

"Awe! No I'm not!" He said bashfully, "And even if I do win, you'll be runner up most definitely."

"So you're saying you had a chance before he entered?" Emily asked as they stopped in front of Stuart's locker. Franny loved Stuart's locker because he hung up all his random sketches and things in it and it smelled like fresh paper and oil pastels and fresh paint. Franny's locker smelled like someone left their lunch in it for too long one day.

"Yes, I had a slim chance, but Stuart is better than me at everything." Franny sighed rolling her eyes as Stuart glanced at her as he got his needed materials out of his locker.

"Am not!" He argued.

"Am so! You're even better at painting than me!" Franny said as Emily rolled her eyes and leaned back against the lockers by Stuart's. The conversation went on until Emily gasped loudly and grabbed Franny by the wrist.

"Look!" She said pointing across the hall. Franny scoffed and went back to talking to Stuart. Emily had a crush. That was all. She had a crush on John Lennon, the annoying Teddy boy who caused a the trouble at Quarrybanks. Franny didn't like him much, but Emily was in love with him.

She didn't have much of a chance with him though. John liked the easy girls. His type seemed to be tall curvy blonds. Emily was tall and thin, but she wasn't as curvy as the girls John liked. She was also a red head with a bit of a temper. Emily's chances were smashed even more by the fact that John hated Franny and Franny disliked him nearly just as much.

"She found Lennon." Franny said to Stuart as she shut his locker and looked around. Stuart was friends with John, but he knew Franny's disliking towards him. He laughed as Emily stared at the obnoxious Teddy boy as he walked down the hall past them. Emily sighed dreamily and then looked at Franny.

"Isn't he just perfect?" She asked giggling. Granny rolled her eyes when suddenly the Secretary started speaking over the loud speakers.

"Attention students, the results to last month's paint contest are now posted at the front office. Thank you." Franny and Stuart looked at each other as the bell rang signaling the first classes.

"Oh I should go!" Emily said, "tell me who wins will ya?" Franny nodded and Emily hurried off to make her first class.

"You wanna walk by the office?" Stuart asked with a sly grin. Franny looked at the clock on the wall.

"I don't have time." She said, "I won't be able to make it from the office to my class without being late. I'll have to look later."

"Alright, then I'll walk you to your next class and we'll look then." Stuart said before Franny walked off. She waved to him as she turned a corner and hurried to her class.

Franny hated Mondays. Everyone hated Mondays it seemed, but Franny hated them because she shared her morning class with John. As she sat down she saw him give her one of his stupid smirks. Of course because they shared a class he had to sit next to her every day, just to annoy her. He had to get up and move today.

"Good morning Francesca!" He said using her full name, knowing she hated it. "How are you this Fine day?" John smiled smugly at her as the teacher Mr. Packard got up in front of the class and called for attention.

"I hope you all had a fine weekend," he started like her did every Monday. "And I also hope you all completed your assignment over the weekend!" Franny pulled out the mentioned assignment and handed it to the blond girl Mr. Packard had asked to take up the homework. John didn't have his, but he did wink at the curvy bleach blond as she got to his seat. She only giggled and went on after finding he didn't have the assignment.

"Thank you Miss Price. You may sit back down." Mr. Packard said putting the homework on his desk, "Now, this week I'm assigning a bigger project. You and a partner will both be working on your sketch technique. You will sketch your partner's profile, and he or she will sketch you. This is for a grade so do your best. You will sketch six pictures on the mentioned partner all at different angles. Questions?" Mr. Packard looked around and Franny raised her hand right before he was about to go on. He nodded for her to ask and she out her hand down, "Who's picking our partners?" She asked, hoping she could pick so she didn't get any unwanted partnerships.

"I have already chosen your partners and I will call them out now." Mr. Packard said. Franny took in a heavy sigh and she listened for her name. Mr. Packard was going down an alphabetical list pairing people at the top of the list with people at the bottom randomly. Suddenly she heard Mr. Packard say: "John Lennon you are paired with Francesca Reynolds." Franny's heart stopped beating briefly and she looked at John, who was smirking at her. She let out a disappointed breath and she looked at her desk.

"Now this is for a grade, so I don't want any bad sketches because you don't like the person you are partners with. It is due on Monday, so you can start now and use the rest of the class to draw your partner." Granny raised her hand again hoping maybe she could change partners with someone.

"No, there will be no switching partners, miss Reynolds." He said before she could ask, "Now if anyone has anymore questions let me know. Your homework from last week will be given back to you on Friday as well as the scores for last week's test."

The subject was changed and Mr. Packard quickly went over some sketching techniques for the class before the bell rang and the class was dismissed.

"Lucky isn't it, Francesca?" John asked following her annoyingly to her locker.

"Yes I suppose." she said, wanting him to go away. He said a few more things to her, but Franny was ignoring him. He eventually went away and then Stuart appeared.

"Hey you wanna go to the office now?" He asked, noticing her scowl. She nodded and they walked down the hall.

"What happened?" Stuart asked taking her hand in his playfully.

"I just got paired with Lennon on a project " Franny grumbled as they reached the front office. They found the results taped to the wall by the door. Stuart responded as they approached.

"Oh, well I'm sorry. How long do you have to deal with him?" He asked as they both looked at the page.

"Until Monday next week." Franny said starting at the bottom of the page to find her name. When she reached the top she gasped. Her name was labeled under "Runner up". Stuart's name was labeled at first place though.

"I told you you'd win." Franny said smugly. Stuart shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"And I said you'd at least get runner up." He said, "it says that we need to bring our school ID with us to the office to claim our prizes." That was when the bell rang. Franny scrunched her nose up and she and Stuart hurried to their class together. They shared this one with John as well.


	2. Chapter 2

The bell finally rang and Franny made her escape before John could catch up to her. Stuart tried to keep up with her, but he ended up falling behind. She met him at the front office anyway. Franny was planning to claim her prize money and avoid John the rest of the day. Franny would have avoided him all week, but she had to sketch him. Franny was not willing to get a bad grade just because her partner was someone she didn't necessarily like.

Stuart's prize was sixty five pounds, which was quite a bit of money. He was rather surprised himself. Franny only thirty pounds, but that was still a fair amount of money. Franny pocketed her money as she and Stuart walked to her locker.

"What are you gonna do with yours?" He asked as they reached Franny's locker and she started to get her books out for her next class. Franny shrugged and closed her locker.

"I dunno, I might just save it." Franny said leaning back against her locker. "What about you?"

Stuart shrugged as Emily walked up, looking totally worn out. "Hello!" She said with a deep sigh, "What's up?"

"Not much," Franny said, "We're just trying to decide what to do with our prize money." Emily laughed and started hopping up and down.

"Who won!?" She asked excitedly. Stuart rolled his eyes at her and laughed before he held up his hand. Emily pouted and looked at Franny, "You let him beat you?"

"I wouldn't have if I'd painted a better picture!" She complained, "Anyway, I got runner up." Emily giggled and she and Franny high fived with a laugh.

"So what are you gonna do with it, Stu?" Franny asked again. Stuart seemed to think about it for a bit and then he shrugged.

"I think I'm just gonna get paint supplies with it or some canvases." he said. Of course John Lennon had to waltz up then.

"Awe, no, Stu don't do that!" John said clapping him on the shoulder. "You know that sixty five pounds is almost the exact amount of a Hofner bass guitar?" Franny scowled at him while Stuart looked at John seeming to be thinking about it.

"I couldn't just spend that much money," Stuart said shaking his head. Franny glanced at Emily and she was just staring at John in some sort of trace.

"Oh c'mon, Stu it'll be great!" John said trying to convince him.

"What do you want Lennon?" Franny asked suddenly. John looked at her and flashed an all too nice smile.

"I just came to see when you'd like to get together." he said glancing at Emily like he knew that she liked him and he waned to see her reaction. Franny looked at Emily too and she looked suddenly very angry.

"What do you mean get together?" She asked narrowing her eyes at Franny.

"It's nothing, Em." Franny sighed, "We got paired up on a projected. That's all."

"Which we need to be together to do." John said, trying to get a rise out of Franny. She groaned and looked at Stuart who was trying not to laugh.

"I understand that, Lennon," Franny huffed, "When do you have time? Might as well get it over with as soon as possible."

"I always have time." John smirked, "Right now even." Franny made a face at him and she reminded him of their classes they still had right as the bell rang.

"I'll see you later, Fran." Stuart said, "C'mon Em, I'll walk you to class." He grabbed Emily by the wrist and pulled her down the hall away from Franny and John. She went without complaint, but she looked back at Franny with a definite look of hurt.

"Thank you for that, Lennon." Franny mumbled walking away from her locker. John followed her.

"What?" He asked innocently. When Franny didn't answer he snickered, "What the thing with Sparrow?"

"Her name is Emily and yes." Franny said turning to face him. "What you did was mean."

"Well then I guess I'm just a mean person." John said rolling his eyes, "She's not my type anyway."

"I never said she was, but she likes you, why I don't know, but she does and you doing stuff like that will make her mad at me." Franny said angrily. "Don't mess with my friends."

Without another word she walked into her next class. John followed her and he sat next to her, only aggravating her more. John followed her around until the school day ended and then he walked up and smiled stupidly.

"You want my place or yours?" he asked. Franny sighed and shrugged as she walked out of the school. She walked home, and John, unfortunately followed her. "I guess this means your place." Franny stopped and turned around suddenly.

"Nope, we're going to your place. We can't be here. We have to go." She said quickly, remembering how her place was. John couldn't see that. She'd never hear the end of it, not ever. John frowned and shrugged before he led the way back down the street to his place.

It was actually nicer than Franny expected. It was a well kept house and it seemed big, but it really wasn't. No one had a big place in Liverpool. John suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her around the back of the house and through the back door.

"Mimi!" John called, "I'm home!"

"Well it's about time!" A woman said back walking into the room, "You're late and you promised to- Oh, John you didn't say someone was with you."

"This is Francesca Reynolds." John said gesturing to Franny, who scowled at him.

"Franny if you don't mind." She said quickly.

"Um, this is," John paused and looked a bit hesitant, "My Aunt Mimi." Franny smiled and shook Mimi's hand quickly.

"I assume you go to school with John?" Mimi asked crossing her arms sternly. Franny nodded and shifted on her feet awkwardly.

"Yes, we're paired on a project." Franny said quickly, eliminating any ideas that were forming in John's Aunt's head.

"Oh so you're not his latest...tryst."

"Mimi!" John protested, "Any road we have things to get to, so, uh, yeah." John suddenly pulled Franny out of the room and up a staircase. John pulled her into his bedroom and shut the door. Franny looked around his room and she saw his guitar sitting in the corner. She ran her fingers over the strings and John spun around at the sound.

"Uh, can you sit on the bed?" John asked, sounding a bit nervous. Franny nodded and did as she was told. She folded her hands in her lap and looked at John awkwardly. He got out his sketch book and he started to draw. "So how come we couldn't do this at your place?" He asked, his voice masked with concentration.

"Oh, um, my house is kinda..." Franny looked for a word, "Crowded." John nodded lightly and glanced at her briefly. It was really quiet for a while until John finished his sketch. He put his pencil down and looked at it for a second before he looked at Franny.

"OK, I've finished." He said. Franny was fully confident it turned out nice until John gave her that stupid mischievous smirk.

"Do I wanna see it?" she asked hesitantly. John laughed and turned it around anyway. Fanny gasped and looked at it. It was her definitely, but then it wasn't. "This is amazing. It doesn't even look like me though."

John sighed and handed it to her, "Sure it is!" He said moving over next to her. He looked between the drawing and Franny's face, "It's you. Or that's how I see you anyway." Franny blushed at his words and she looked at her lap.

"Um, well I supposed it's my turn now then." She pulled out her notebook and turned to face him. She looked at his features for a long time before she started to draw. She wasn't too great at sketching, she definitely wasn't as good as John, but she was OK.

She spent a long time trying to sketch him, but his face wasn't coming out right. Finally he sighed and looked at what she was trying to do. "No, do it more like..." John took her pencil and lightly managed to sketch what she wanted her drawing to look like, "Like that." Franny took her pencil back and looked at him and then back at her picture. She finished her drawing and then showed it to him with a look of question. He looked at it and then he looked at her. He looked back at her sketch and he sighed.

"Really?" He asked making a face. Franny laughed and did a major face palm.

"I'm sorry! Sketching is not my specialty!" She whined, "I can use pastels and paints perfectly, but sketching is just not something I'm good at."

"This is why we're doing the assignment, Franny." John sighed, "You can't send this one in." Franny's shoulders slumped and John got up.

"Why not!?" She asked asked following him out of his room and downstairs.

"Because it's dreadful!" He responded, "Look I have to admit here, I sketch better when I know what I'm sketching."

"I know you." Franny said rolling her eyes, "You're John Lennon, the Teddy Boy who knows how to annoy me beyond all measures.

"OK, well there's definitely more you could know, so you are coming with me to this gig me and me band have." He said before he took her hand and pulled her out of his house. Franny didn't realize he'd brought his guitar with him until he put it on his back for easier transportation.

"I don't see how this is going to help." Franny sighed, not really wanting to go with John anywhere.

"It will, just trust me. Now I'll tell you something about myself if you tell me something about you." He said looking over at her. Franny sighed and tried to think of something that's not too embarrassing.

"Um, OK," She said hesitantly, "My favorite color is purple." John nodded and thought of something. He said something that was a little deeper than Franny expected.

"I live with my Aunt because my mum and dad split when I was little." He said. Franny looked at him, surprised he's tell her that.

"Mine did too." She said quickly, "I don't live with either of them either." John looked at her, with the same surprised look that she'd had a minute ago.

"Really?" He asked, "You seem put together well." Franny laughed and shrugged.

"I try not to let it affect what people see in me." She said, "Is that why you're...the way you are? Tough and..."

"Yeah I supposed." John said before she could say anything else. Franny suddenly realized right that very second, John wasn't being as annoying as possible. He was actually kind of nice. "So how come you're the way you are? Overly nice to most people and can't seem to grow a backbone?" Franny's mouth dropped open and she shoved John's shoulder.

"I do too have a backbone." she protested, "I just don't really like it when people pick on me for no reason."

"Who picks on you!?" John asked, sounding shocked. Franny rolled her eyes at him.

"You for lack of a better example." Franny said. John made a face and Franny smirked at him.

"I can't be the only one." He said as we approached a little club that looked a bit crowded.

"You aren't but I'm not telling you who it is." Franny said seriously. John scowled and pulled her into the club and led her backstage where two other boys were waiting.


	3. Chapter 3

Franny growled and shut off her alarm. Now she hated Tuesdays as well as Mondays. Why? Because John Lennon took her out to see his band play at some place she didn't remember the name of. Flashes of the night before came to mind as she got dressed.

_John led Franny backstage to where two boys were standing with their instruments. One was rather cute with big hazel eyes and the other was shortish with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. He didn't look to be very old to Franny and she soon found out that he wasn't. _

_ "Fellas this is Franny Reynolds!" John said making a face at her name, "She's a new...acquaintance and she's here to see us play." _

_ "Acquaintance?" Franny asked raising her eyebrows._

_ "Well we aren't really friends are we?" John rolled his eyes, "Anyroad, Franny, this is Paul McCartney and little Georgie Harrison!" George scowled at John and Franny laughed._

_ "How little are we talking here?" Franny asked with a smirk and a wink at the poor kid._

_ "Aw, he's only 14!" Paul answered ruffling George's hair. George scowled at Paul this time and turned and walked away. _

_ "And how old are you then?" Franny asked rolling her eyes. He couldn't be very much older. John snickered when Paul's charming smile faded and he cleared his throat awkwardly. _

_ "He's 15, Fran," John said, "I'm the only one in the group who's technically you're age group." _

_ "Yeah, well don't think I'm desperate or anything, Lennon." Franny said shoving his shoulder as Paul walked off._

_ "Course not!" John said with a wink before he followed Paul and George onto the stage. Franny watched the show from backstage and she liked the way they sounded even though they didn't have a drummer to back them up._

_ After the show, Franny was invited to have a drink with John and Paul and George. She and George ended up going to dance along with the loud music that was playing, well it was a nice attempt at dancing. Afterwards, Paul had an idea to leave the club and get some air, so the three boys dragged Franny out and down the street. She wasn't drunk really, just extremely buzzed. She kept giggling and John and Paul kept laughing at her. George was quiet before, after he'd had a few to drink, he didn't shut up and it made Franny giggle more. _

Franny shook her head and pulled her tangled hair up into a quick ponytail before she pulled on some clean clothes. She didn't remember coming home last night and she hoped for everything John hadn't come inside her house.

She hurried downstairs for something quick to eat, hoping no one was up yet. She was wrong though.

"Morning," Chris, her...we'll say her brother said with a smirk, "Breakfast?"

"Not from you." Franny said hesitantly, "I have to go." She picked up her bag and quickly left the house, hoping Chris didn't decide he wanted to carry on with the conversation. She walked quickly to Quarrybanks and when she got there she realized how hungry she really was. She never actually had anything for dinner and she hadn't really had much lunch the day before. She was starving and she had to get to class. She was late; so late that she didn't even run into Emily or Stuart as she quickly walked to her class. John was even later than her, because he came in right before Mr. Packard started class.

"How are your projects going?" He asked after he'd greeted the class and all that. "Well just remember it's for a large amount of your grade and it's due on Monday. Today I will let you work with your partner for the whole class, just for my sake, so I know that you're doing the work."

Franny sighed and looked to John, who'd actually sat across the room from her today. She started to get up to sit next to him, but he got up and walked over to her desk instead.

"Morning." He said with a smirk, "I'm sure your head is pounding just as much as mine, so let's get to work and get this over with eh?" Franny nodded and got out her sketch book and a pencil. John did the same and they just started to draw each other. Once they'd both drawn a sketch of the other, Franny showed hers to John. He smiled lightly and nodded.

"That's better than yesterday's." He mumbled, "See, wasn't I right?" Franny rolled her eyes and tried to look at John's drawing. He refused to let her see it.

"C'mon, you saw mine, now I get to see yours." She complained. John smirked and she smacked his arm, "That's not what I meant and you know it!" John laughed and he turned the page of his notebook before he started to draw again.

"Sit still," He said without looking up. Franny watched him draw for a second before he muttered some curse word that Franny didn't quite here. His pencil tip had broken. "You got a free pencil, Fran?" Franny nodded and dug around in her bag. She pulled out paper after paper until she handed John a pencil. He wasn't paying attention though.

"What?" She asked as John looked at three of four of the pages.

"When did you draw these?" He asked showing them to her. They were very nice sketches of him. Franny took one from him and remembered it.

"I drew this one while you were playing last night." She responded taking the others from him, "I don't remember these though." John shrugged and smirked at her.

"You're a better sketcher when you're drunk apparently." He said teasingly.

"Shut up!" Franny said rolling her eyes, "I can't turn these in though." She sighed.

"Why not? You drew them. They've even got your signature." John said making a face.

"Mr. Packard will know I was drunk when I drew them!" Franny said, "That or he'll think I was drunk when I drew this one." She pointed to the most recent drawing she'd just finished and John laughed.

"Right," John said, "Well maybe you should just be drunk when you draw the rest."

"Maybe," Franny said sarcastically, "that's the dumbest idea I've ever heard in my life." John shrugged and went back to drawing. When the bell rang, John packed up his things and he walked out of the class. Franny rolled her eyes and walked to her locker, feeling her hunger setting in again.

She opened it up with a sigh when Stuart walked up and smiled. "Hey Stu." She said before she yawned.

"Hey, what's up?" Stuart asked pulling a muffin out of his bag. It was wrapped up and it looked rather tasty.

"I'm starving." Franny said eyeing his muffin. Stuart laughed and handed it to her.

"Well I brought it for you. My mum made a ton last night and she told me to bring you one." He said rolling his eyes. Franny thanked him and started to eat it while she got her things out of her locker. "So how's the project going with John?"

Franny rolled her eyes, "Well he's drawing pictures of me and he won't let me see them, while I'm struggling to sketch even a bad picture of him. Stu I'm dying here." She whined putting her head on his shoulder. Stuart patted the top of her head and laughed.

"Just...try harder." he said shrugging, "And let him help you. He's one of the best sketchers I know." Franny scrunched up her nose and leaned back against her locker.

"I know, but his way of helping is going to a club and drinking." She sighed, "Which is what we did last night might I add."

"You went to a club with John?" Emily asked walking up, "Was it nice? I'm sure it was."

"Well it was fun at the time." Franny complained, "But I've got a massive headache and I'm dead tired."

"Did you meet his group?" Emily asked, not really caring that Franny felt like she could pass out from exhaustion at any second.

"Yes, Em, I met his group, but it's just a couple of kids." She said, not really too impressed in reality. They were sweet kids, but a little young for Franny's liking.

"Well so what? Were they good? Were they cute?"

"Em!" Franny exclaimed, "They were kids! Besides, it wasn't all that fantastic." Emily sighed and rolled her eyes as John started to walk toward them.

"Why don't you go home early, Fran?" Stuart asked, "I don't think anyone will mind if you miss the rest of the day." Franny nodded and walked towards the exit as John made it up to Stuart and Emily. Franny didn't know what happened then because she was going home. She walked all the way home before she remembered she couldn't be at home at this time of day. Of course Chris wasn't there, but others were.

She walked inside and closed the door. It shut a little harder than she expected and a curly headed little girl called Lauren ran up to her. She was Franny's little buddy and she didn't like her name, just like Franny didn't like her name either. So Lauren called herself Chuck.

"Why're you home Franny?" She asked as Franny lifted her up and carried her upstairs to her bedroom. Chuck wasn't old enough to go to school yet and she never really got to see Franny when school wasn't on holiday.

"I'm home because I stayed out too late last night and I have a massive headache, would you like to take a nap with me?" Franny asked kissing Chuck on the cheek. She nodded and wrapped her arms around Franny's neck as she carried her to her bed. She cuddled into Franny and Franny pulled her blankets around them. "Chuck is there anyone else home with you?" Chuck looked up at Franny and she looked suddenly nervous.

"Well, no." She said quietly, "Chris is at work and Ms. Bishop went to London for a couple days. I don't know how long she'll be gone, and Kendall is at school and you were at college and I was the only one left."

"When did M. Bishop leave?" Franny asked frowning, "How many days have you been home by yourself?"

"Only since yesterday." Chuck said, "Ms. Bishop said I'd be OK by myself for a few house and when you got home you would get me something to eat and stuff."

"But I haven't been home, Chuck." Franny said worriedly, "Who's been keeping an eye on you? How'd you get meals? Why didn't you tell me Ms. Bishop left you here all by yourself?"

"Well I forgot." Chuck said, "And Yesterday Chris got me something to eat." Franny nodded and rubbed her eyes. She didn't remember falling asleep, but she did remember waking up to someone knocking on the door.

"Can you get the door, Franny!?" Franny heard Chris call from some room in the house. Franny sat up and looked at Chuck, who was still sound asleep. She got up and walked downstairs, readjusting her clothes as she opened the door.

"John!" She exclaimed stepping outside and shutting the door behind her so he couldn't see inside.

"Franny, I was just coming to see if you wanted to get together again. you know so we can get this project over with." He said frowning at her expression. She was slightly panicked and she looked like a complete mess. "Are you alright?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She said quickly, "I've only just woken up is all. Um, I can't get together right now though. I have to take care of...something."

"Oh well maybe afterward we could-"

"Franny Chris is being mean!" Chuck exclaimed opening the door and wrapping her arms around Franny's legs. Franny gasped and looked at John before she picked up Chuck.

"Chuck go back inside. I'll be there in a second." She said putting Chuck back inside.

"But Chris is being mean! He said you wouldn't draw me a picture if I asked and then he said I couldn't have any dinner!" Chuck sniffled. "I can have dinner can't I?" Franny sighed and nodded.

"Yes of course you can, just go back inside." Franny pleaded before she shut the door and turned back to John.

"Little sister?" He asked raising his eyebrows.

"If you like." Franny said. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, "But we can get together later."

"How come you left early?" John asked suddenly.

"I wasn't feeling well."

"Oh, well um, if you like, your...sister can come along and we can go eat at some diner or something." John suggested. Franny shook her head.

"I don't have any money." She said becoming more and more embarrassed.

"I'll pay." He said. Franny never expected him to say that. Not to her anyway. She took a deep breath and looked at her clothes. She was a mess.

"Alright, just give me a minute." She mumbled, "Stay here though." She said. She walked back into the house and she changed her clothes before she picked up Chuck.

"Where're we going?" Chuck asked as Franny carried her to the front door.

"We're gonna go get some dinner, OK?" Franny picked up her bag and stepped outside. John was leaning against the wall and he actually smiled when he saw Franny walking toward him. This was weird and it should be interesting.


	4. Chapter 4

Franny watched John pat Chuck on the top of the head as they sat at the corner booth at this burger place. She hadn't realized how late it had become until then, because she saw the sun quickly going down, taking it's light, outside the window of the diner.

Food was ordered quickly, and Chuck ate her Mac 'n' Cheese and milkshake as Franny drew John as he ate his own burger and chips. She drew several sketches of him, but none of them turned out the way she wanted them to.

"That's a good drawing," Chuck said looking over Franny's shoulder. Franny looked at her and scrunched her nose.

"It looks nothing like him, Chuck." She said as John took her sketch book from her. She waited for him to tell her it was terrible, but he simply shrugged and went back to eating. Franny picked her book up again and started over.

"I think it looks just like him." Chuck said in her matter of fact way. Franny rolled her eyes and scribbled on her page a bit more before John shoved half of his sandwich and some chips at her.

"What's that for?" She asked, barely looking up.

"You need to eat too and you didn't order." He shrugged and took her book again. He started drawing in it, and Franny knew he was drawing inappropriate things on the pages. Franny ate the chips and sandwich anyway.

"So how many more pieces do you need of me?" She asked taking a drink from Chuck's milkshake. John looked at bit embarrassed suddenly as he erased some on the page.

"Oh, just a few..." He mumbled, "But you have yet to have one of me, so it doesn't really matter." Franny huffed and finished eating. She snatched her sketch book from John before she picked up Chuck.

"Time to go, Chuck." She sighed. John looked up and watched her stuff her book in her bag.

"You don't have to go, yet." He said quickly getting up, "Maybe we could go-"

"I can't go anywhere like that with Chuck." Franny shook her head and he rolled his eyes.

"You don't seem to want to spend time with me, but you need to get those drawings," He said seriously. Franny gritted her teeth and sighed.

"Fine, but we're going where I say." John nodded and paid for their meal- which Franny was slightly expecting him to skip out quickly- and he followed Franny out of the diner.

"Where are we going then?" John asked, pulling Chuck up onto his back for a ride. Franny frowned slightly at him and thought for a moment.

"We're taking Chuck home, so I can put her in bed, and then we'll go to the park or something." She said heading toward home.

"I don't want to go to sleep, Franny!" Chuck said quickly. "Chris might be home and he scares me when I go to sleep." Franny sighed and shook her head.

"You've got to go to sleep," She said taking her off John's back, "Chris won't hurt you, and I'll be home soon." Chuck sighed, but didn't respond.

John walked with them all the way back to their house. Franny walked with him all the way up to the front door when she stopped.

"Um, wait here." she said awkwardly. John made a face at her and reached for the door. "I'll only be 10 minutes, 15 at the most." John sighed and moved toward the porch swing. He sat down and Franny took Chuck inside and into Franny's bedroom. Chris didn't go into her room, so she'd be safe in there.

"Okay, go to sleep," She said kissing Chuck on the forehead, "I'll be home soon." Chuck nodded and looped her arms around Franny.

"I love you, Franny." She whispered. Franny smiled and kissed her cheek.

"I love you too," She said, "Now sleep."

"Have fun with your boyfriend." She giggled as she turned over. Franny blushed and covered the little girl up before she grabbed a light jacket for the evening chill. She pulled it on as she shut the front door behind her. John was walking up the drive with a case of beer and his own sketch book. She laughed and hurried up to him.

"I had to get something to make it fun." he said smirking. Franny rolled her eyes and shoved her hands in her pocket.

"Chuck thinks you're my boyfriend." She said as they started to walk toward the park. John teasingly grabbed her hand and pulled her to his side.

"Well aren't you?" He asked waggling his eyebrows. Franny laughed and shook her head at him.

"No way, Lennon." She shoved him away and he laughed. He wasn't all that bad. He was obnoxious and incredibly arrogant, but he was also funny and he brought along beer.

"In my dreams, right?" he asked shoving his hand in his pocket. Franny didn't respond. She didn't really hear him in the first place. She was looking up at the sky. It was nearly dark out, and Franny found the only time she'd been out this late was when she was out drinking with her mates. She'd never been out to the park at this hour.

They reached the park in no time, and John picked a spot near a street light so they could see. They sat in the grass and Franny opened her notebook to a random page. John opened up a beer and handed it to her. Franny took a long drink as John opened his own drink and notebook. He twirled his pencil between his fingers before he started drawing. Franny went to work as well, but she was already bad at sketching, so the dark didn't really help.

Franny had failed at least twice by the time she started craving a cigarette, and she saw a pack peaking out of his coat pocket. She moved her notebook aside and moved toward him. She reached her hand into his pocket and he moved back, surprised by her.

He grabbed her wrist that headed for his pocket and his other hand moved to her hip. She froze and they stared at each other, both breathing heavily for some reason.

"I was just reaching to get a cigarette." she said awkwardly. John let her go and she pulled the pack out of his pocket. She put a cigarette between her lips and handed him the pack. He took one for himself before putting it back in his pocket. He lit hers up before he lit his own and leaned back in the grass. Franny took a long drag as she crossed her legs and put her notebook back into her lap. Except it wasn't hers. It was John's. She glanced at him and she started to look at what he'd been drawing. It wasn't a sketch of her, well it was but not really. It was actually the park where they were sitting. He'd put down the street lamp, the trees behind her and he'd drawn her sitting focusing on her own notebook. She wondered how he could sketch so well. She wished she could sketch half as good as this. She started to turn the page, but John snatched his book away from her. She looked up to his quickly as he scowled.

"That's a private book." He said quickly. Franny had seen part of the page underneath. It was the shape of a girl's face. She couldn't see who it was though.

"Sorry," She said taking a swig of beer, "Anyways, you never did say how many more sketches you had to do of me."

"I have..." John seemed to think about it, "I don't remember." Franny laughed and grabbed his wrist to look at his watch. They'd been sitting there a lot longer than she thought they had.

"Oh I gotta get home!" She hopped up and packed up her notebook. John grabbed her hand and pulled her back down.

"It's not that late," He said pleadingly, "just stay a little longer." Franny sighed and sat back down.

"Alright, but I need another drink." she said sitting next to John. He handed her another beer and she finished her cigarette as she opened it up. She took a sizable gulp before John moved around to face her. He started drawing and she watched him draw her face. She thought maybe she could figure out his Technic and use it for her own drawings. He just seemed to draw the same way she did. Everything he did was everything she would do.

Three beers and two cigarettes later, Franny was packing up her stuff to stumble home. She drank quite often, but she was small, so she got tipsy really fast. John seemed okay, but he was stumbling a little and he kept tripping on his words.

He walked Franny home and she went into her room to bed. Chuck was sound asleep, and she didn't want to disturb her, but the bed was big enough for three people. She took off her jacket and her shoes. She pulled her long-sleeved shirt off before she curled up under the covers next to Chuck.

She knew she'd be sick in the morning, but all she wanted to do now was sleep. She closed her eyes and she was knocked out before Chuck could even turn over and cuddled her back.


End file.
